


White Collar Girls

by Wagyubeefy



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Drug Use, F/F, Humanstuck, Mentions of incest, making out????????????, other things that are dumb but inevitable idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-31
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-11-27 15:29:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/663595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wagyubeefy/pseuds/Wagyubeefy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Really gay teenage girls getting into shenanigans. That basically covers the entire thing.</p><p>It is worthy to note that this is a series of one-or-more-shots under one AU, rather than linear chapters and set perspectives following a specific plot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seventeen

**Author's Note:**

> You know what's fun? Experimenting with LSD. So long as you have a few good friends, there's no such thing as bad choices!
> 
> (aren't I just a beacon of light and great advice haha I KNOW)

A tab, white and tiny and dissolvable, sat upon Kanaya Maryam’s index finger; both a birthday present and the result of a lost dare. She eyed it dubiously. “Remind me of the effects of this particular drug?”

“Hallucinations, synaesthesia, mentally stimulating sensations that may result in heightened understanding. Also, possibly, nightmarish feelings of anxiety, despair and fear. Physical effects – though not guaranteed – include increased blood pressure, dizziness, loss of appetite, dry mouth, sweating, nausea, numbness and tremors.” A small brush was raised before Kanaya. “Close your eyes,” Rose murmured.

“Those bad things won’t happen, Kanaya, I am sure of it! And if they do, we’ll be there to help you out.”

Kanaya smiled as Jade patted her arm reassuringly. A cool swab of paint trailed along her eyelid. “What is synaesthesia?”

“Don’t talk.” Kanaya clenched her jaw, the side of Rose’s hand pressing against her cheek as she created a small wing at the corner of her eye. “Synaesthesia is when sensory perceptions blend; for example, seeing sounds.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“It is.” Rose’s hand disappeared, and Kanaya blinked as the neon paint dried rapidly over her skin. Bright yellow. “Going on an acid trip – especially a bad trip – really puts the brain in perspective. It’s amazing what we can trick ourselves into perceiving.”

Kanaya frowned. “I learnt that when I was twelve, staring at the pile of clothes in the corner of my room that I was convinced was some form of serial killer preparing to slice me open. They usually had a mask.”

“I learnt it when I attended a spiritualists meeting,” Rose said dryly as she cleaned the brush. She dipped it into the pink pot. “Scary, funny or pretty?”

“Pretty,” Kanaya said firmly, and Rose smiled in that way she did when she really wanted to giggle. Kanaya felt swirls and short strokes over her cheeks, beneath her eyes and in the dip between her lip and her chin. Rose cleaned a line by the corner of her mouth – her thumb lingered a beat longer than it needed to, and Kanaya had to keep her smirk in check – and then was done. Kanaya scrunched up her face. The paint felt extremely cold, the dorm common room as small and packed as it was.

“You look good.” Rose smirked proudly. Jade agreed loudly, slipping an arm around Kanaya’s shoulders enthusiastically.

“They’re about to turn on the black lights! Better take that tab before shit goes down; this room is going to be shaking like mad!” Jade took off with a loud howl that was almost drowned out by the music, probably to help set up the lights herself.

“How much has she drank?”

“Three shots and a screwdriver.” Rose nodded at the little slip of magic resting on Kanaya’s finger. “She’s right. Get it in you. When those lights come on, this place is going to explode into flailing limbs and rambunctiously spilled drinks.”

Kanaya stared at the tab for a long moment, and then sighed. “Alright.” She placed the tab on her tongue. “How long till it sets in?”

“Thirty minutes to an hour.” Rose was checking her nails, black with lavender polka dots, and upon finding them unchipped smirked up at Kanaya. “You’ll know when it happens. I assure you.”

Kanaya was about to say something, but was cut off by sudden darkness. The large mounted black lights kicked in, and a hundred painted faces came to life in the dark. The room burst into excited cries, and Kanaya was pretty sure she heard Jade’s howl again, longer and louder.

“Let’s go.” Rose dragged her into the mass of dancing girls. Kanaya decided to let her.

\----

“Where is Aradia?”

Rose rolled her eyes, but was smiling in amusement. “We saw her just before. By the drinks? She was mixing Red Bull and Malibu.”

“Oh.” Kanaya blinked heavily, leaning against the building’s open entry door. The air was cool in these early hours, where night and morning got confused. Kanaya breathed it in deep. “The walls… are falling again. Parts. We have to make sure everyone is here because the parts might have hurt them.”

“I know. You told me as much about twenty minutes ago.”

“Oh?” Kanaya jerked back, eyes wide. “That was tonight,” she muttered.

Rose chuckled, lacing an arm with Kanaya’s. "Come on. Let's go see how everyone is doing, hm?"

“Okay.”

They made their way up the building, checking off people as they went, Kanaya muttering and jerking and chuckling haltingly as they went. Stacy, the last girl to mark off, was vomiting over the side of the balcony.

“Someone should hold her hair,” Kanaya said. Rose pushed a glass of water into her hand.

“She’s fine.” Kanaya was sitting in the common room’s old, sunken couch. Rose tossed her legs over the intoxicated girl’s lap. “How are you?”

Kanaya stared ahead, into the large group still dancing. The vivid colouring on their faces, now chipped and smeared, lagged behind their movements like streaks of neon light, thrashing around the dark room wildly. The objects still tumbled out of the walls, slipping right through the floor. She hadn’t seen them hit a person though. She was afraid what would happen if they did. Kanaya blinked hard, trying to shake away the dizziness. She took a long sip of water.

“Okay. It is very colourful and… aliasing.” She waved her hand with a grimace. “Lots of streams. Too many.”

Rose brought her legs from Kanaya’s lap and scooted to sit right next to her, lacing their arms again, clasping her hand this time. Kanaya squeezed it as hard as she could in her state, which wasn’t very hard at all. Rose stared out into the crowd. Kanaya stared at Rose.

“You look like a lion,” Kanaya murmured, and Rose looked back to her, eyebrow raised. “Like a... dragon lion.” Kanaya traced one of the bright yellow-gold lines going across her cheek. They were like thick whiskers. The paint peeled and flaked beneath her fingers, fluttering down vividly. Kanaya was entranced by it. She cupped Rose’s cheek and rubbed at the gold with her thumb; slowly, because she felt sluggish, and because she wanted to savour watching the gold fall from her skin. She took her other hand from Rose’s and rubbed at her other cheek. The gold that remained clung to her skin stubbornly, but suddenly it didn’t matter - her fingers felt hypersensitive, like there was some kind of live energy between them and Rose’s skin. Which was really soft and felt great. Kanaya caressed circular patterns, and she could see them, like the streams, still frames of her movements lingering as she... as she...

Rose was looking at her. Her eyes were beautiful. Kanaya had always thought that; they were very dark, and in this room, with so little light, they were an inky black. She looked like a cat. That thought made Kanaya grin, then take in a breath, because there was something seductive about a cat’s manner, and Rose had that too. She was pretty sure she wanted to kiss Rose.

She kissed Rose. That energy, that hypersensitivity she had felt, was there between their lips. In their lips, maybe. Surely there was no room for it between. Perhaps it has been squeezed out and chased to her tongue, that had a sudden restlessness to it. Kanaya’s fingers were stroking the short hairs at the back of her neck, and when she pressed there - as Rose’s teeth caught against her lip - Rose gasped quietly, and tilted her head and shifted where she was sitting. Her sigh was purple, ghosting down her throat and her lips bright, bright red, melting against Kanaya’s.

Kanaya’s eyes were closed but she swore she could see it; the lagging image of them moving together and the taste of Rose’s mouth pouring into hers and the energy that was everywhere, on her skin and her tongue and the minute space between their lips. It felt like hours as Rose kissed her; she thought, maybe hours? A day? Her mouth felt very dry and yet very wet at the same time. She briefly forgot where her hands were, then they returned to her and - right, on Rose’s waist, gripping her clean white school shirt.

Then Rose was gone, and it felt like a vacuum, the world coming back into sharp focus all too fast. Kanaya stared after her dazedly.

“You’re high.” She said, then cleared her throat. She looked about the party, which was still going, Kanaya realised. “Lets get some fresh air.”

Rose grasped her wrist and tugged her to her feet, and through the bustling people in the centre of the room. Suddenly it was very cold, because they were outside on the balcony. A couple of girls were spread out, three to the far right, all smoking and playing cards around a small table. Stacy was sitting alone, bunched up, back pressed against the railing.

Rose fell back into a chair made with fake leather; a novelty, shaped like an open hand. Kanaya was briefly confused by it. She decided it was no good and pressed against the railing, looking out into the night, then down to the ground three stories below. She would die if she did that. If not the height, it would be that pole that got her - maybe break her spine? Impaling perhaps. She would bleed green. Red, she reminded herself.

As she stared, the front entry doors opened, and two girls walked out arm in arm, heading down the path toward the school building, or the other dorm. “Rose,” Kanaya said, “Rose there are people going.”

“Perhaps they’re tired.”

“It’s so dark. They shouldn’t go - what are they doing? Where are they going?” Kanaya pushed away from the railing. Something caught her arm, and then Rose was looking at her, smiling as if to hold back laughter.

“They’re going to be fine, Kanaya. They’re just going for a walk.”

“No, it’s not -- what if its not safe? This is my party I need to... help.”

“Honey, I don’t think you’re in any state to be helping anyone,” Another voice said, and Kanaya turned to see her older sister patting her back. “What did they give you?”

“Just a tab of LSD, Porrim. We’re taking care of her.”

Kanaya leaned back into Porrim, head dropping against her chest. She felt an arm wind around her waist. Porrim smelled like cigarettes and alcohol and sex beneath her perfume, like she usually did, and it was always lovely and comforting. “We?”

“Jade and I.” Rose smiled. God, her smile was sexy. “Jade seems to have taken over DJ duties, though. And grinding duties. And making moves on Nepeta duties.”

“It’s okay. I trust you, Rosie.” Porrim’s voice was as alluring as everything else about her, and Rose blushed just a little bit, despite being called that nickname Kanaya knew she disliked intensely. Porrim pressed a kiss behind Kanaya’s ear. “Have a good time, love.”

“Yep.” Porrim disappeared back into the party, and Kanaya meandered back to the railing, the girls long gone and forgotten. She breathed deep, in and out. Inhale, exhale. Things seem a little clearer, briefly.

“How are you feeling?”

“Everything.” Kanaya said, rubbing her hand against the railing, and the little imperfections in its smooth polished painted surface. “My sister is so hot.”

“She really is.” Rose breathed, then chuckled. “But then, so is mine.”

“She really is.” Kanaya repeated, then laughed because that just seemed so amusing to her. “Is this a competition? Who has the hottest sister?”

“I’m pretty sure Aradia would win.” Rose remarked, and Kanaya laughed all too loud, then attempted to stifle it with a hand. She gave Rose a big grin, then looked back out over the dead campus. The sun would be rising soon, she thought. Perhaps it had already risen and set again and she had missed it.

“Rose,” Kanaya started, and then got distracted, and propped her head up on her hand. “I am not a very honest person.”

“Oh?”

“Well, its not that I’m not... I just don’t say a lot of what I am thinking. And sometimes I am not exactly sure how I should say it. There is so much going on around me, and then there is me, and I just feel so small, like some terrified pygmy rodent wandering lost in hundreds of fields of long grass. So long I can’t see the sky. There are snakes in long grass.”

“I see.”

“I don’t say a lot, well I do but its never the important things, and its always in such long ways so I can. Avoid what matters. So I really don’t say a lot, but I should. I should say more. I want to say more, so. I’m going to say an important thing to you now, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I really admire you a lot. Like, a lot. You’re such a beautiful person, and you have no idea. I wish you knew, or I wish I could show you that I think you’re -- you’re so beautiful.”

Kanaya waited for some kind of response, but Rose remained silent. She didn’t want to look back at her. She was scared, she realised.

“I think I love you.” Kanaya said quietly. Perhaps Rose didn’t hear her.

“Kanaya.” She felt it warm against her shoulder, and when she turned Rose was standing there. She took her hand, and looked at Kanaya with those black eyes, and kissed her. The red was there, but cooler maybe, and then it was gone, and Rose was smiling very softly. “Lets get you some water.”

\----

“How do you feel?”

“Tired.”

Kanaya rubbed at her eyes. She felt a little groggy, but surprisingly calm. She had thought there might be a down, or some kind of hangover, but really she just felt exhausted, like she had been on a long run. She was sitting in the hand chair with a blanket around her shoulders, staring at the recently risen sun. It was cold and damp in the mornings, light rain pattering on the balcony roof. The party had calmed down, with just a handful of girls in the common room now, spread over the ground, sobering up and talking idly. Everyone else had gone to bed, Kanaya presumed, crashed on the nearest bed. Jade was leaning against the railing, Rose against her, both of them wrapped up in a large varsity jacket.

“It’s because your heart rate goes up. Your body uses more energy than usual.” Rose tipped her head. “Do you remember much?”

“Not really. I remember it being quite a colourful experience. I think my speech was a little hampered, too, but I don’t really remember anything I said at any point.”

Rose looked away, her mouth a thin line, and Kanaya wondered if something happened -- something important. She truly couldn’t recall.

“So, did you like my present?” Jade asked, grinning brightly. She winced, and that smile faded fast. Even Jade Harley wasn’t resistant to hangovers.

“The drugs, or the party?” Kanaya asked with a smirk. “I enjoyed both, though I think I have had quite enough of the former for this lifetime. Thank you, Jade.” The girl mock bowed as well as she could, with Rose against her.

“I think we ought to get some sleep, or at least shower. We have classes in a few hours.” Rose pointed out, and both Jade and Kanaya groaned.

“I’ll put the coffee on! God knows I need it.”

“I’m going to have a shower.” Kanaya said, and then stood up, shrugging off the blanket. Jade patted her shoulder as she passed her to go into the building. Rose moved forward to hug her. “Cold?”

“Yes.” She squeezed with her arms. “And I just wanted to hug you.” Kanaya brought a hand to the clipped hair at the back of Rose’s head, and it felt familiar. Her hand was there last night. They had kissed. Kanaya flushed at the memory, and hid it by pressing her cheek to Rose’s cool hair, her other arm wrapping around Rose’s waist.

Rose leaned back and smiled, with her flaking face paint and dark eyes. “It’s a shame you don’t remember.”

“I do remember one thing, actually,” Kanaya said hesitantly. She took a breath, and leaned down to kiss Rose’s cheek, and then her lips just as chastely. Rose was very warm, even with her bad circulation. Her breath smelled like 6 hours of hard partying, but felt nice against her cheek after they parted, and Kanaya couldn’t help grinning.

Rose smiled, but there was something sad to it. Kanaya felt a sudden worry. “Should I not have done that?”

“No, that was lovely. Really.” Kanaya grimaced, still concerned. “Trust me, Kanaya. I liked it.” Her smile was genuine now, and closer to a smirk, and as attractive as usual. She leaned up to kiss Kanaya again, lingering longer, and parting with a gentle nip on Kanaya’s bottom lip. Her face felt like it was on fire, and Rose seemed to notice, grinning in her subdued way. “You’re rather pretty when you blush.”

“Shush.” Kanaya said, trying to keep her smile down. “I smell awful. I am going to go get cleaned up. Have a rest, Rose.” Kanaya pressed a last kiss to her forehead.

“If anyone needs a rest, its you, miss druggie,” Rose teased, stepping back as Kanaya scoffed. “I’m going to get some of that coffee. Have a nice shower.” Rose waggled her eyebrows, then went into the building.

Kanaya looked out over the campus and sighed deep. Today was going to be a long day.


	2. Truth Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Land of Weed and Bathroom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note: This fic is not about drugs. I just happened to do chapters involving drugs right after eachother. There will be them doing other things. And other people doing things. And other things. The other people that is -- you get it.
> 
> Anyway, there's some sexy-time in this so. Yeah. That's a warning. For the sexy-times.

In year nine, in English class, Mrs. Journe had called Kanaya a model student. Kanaya wondered what a model student was. Kanaya wondered what Mrs. Journe would consider her now, as she sat the dorm’s lone empty bath, smoking weed with a girl that she was possibly going out with. She wondered about it, and then wondered if Mrs. Journe was in the bath too, because she had subbed for Science once and Kanaya had to wash her eyes because of the chemicals, and she was pretty sure Mrs. Journe had a thing for porcelain.  
  
“Truth or dare?”  
  
Kanaya held the heat of the smoke and all its effects in her throat for a long moment, and almost forgot to let it out, and didn’t, and then did all in one big rush. She sputtered and coughed, and the girl beside her laughed with an unusual heartiness. Kanaya laughed with her, then stopped and pouted, because all the shaking of her shoulders hurt against the hard bathside.“Truth.”  
  
“Truth, truth, truth,” Rose muttered all in one breath. She took a drag from the tiny rolled smoke between her fingers. “Always truth. Why even offer the option of a dare?”  
  
“Do you want to get up?” Kanaya asked. Rose squinted at her.  
  
“Point taken.”  
  
“Isn’t playing truth or dare with only two people kind of dumb as it is?” Kanaya touched Rose’s arm. “Not that I’m not having fun.”  
  
“Mmmh, you’re having fun. I know.” Rose smirked in that seductive way she did, then passed on the bit. “So. Truth. If you had to - had to - which boy would you sleep with?”  
  
“Oh my god.” Kanaya slapped the porcelain beside her. “Fuck. Okay. Okay. Don’t judge me, I have. Reasoning. Reasons.”  
  
“Sexy reasons, or... Logic reasons?”  
  
“Logic.” Kanaya presented her hands in an imploring manner. “Okay. So. Eridan Ampora.”  
  
“You’re fucking with me,” Rose said immediately. Kanaya was already shaking her head, hand held up.  
  
“No, okay, but seriously. He gets no action, right? With the whole lusting after his cousin thing, and all that axe body spray, and the awful pick up lines.” Rose nodded. “So... how long would he really last?”  
  
“I...” Rose smirked. “Like how you think.”  
  
“How about you?”  
  
Rose stared at her, and then grinned. “I... yeah, wow. Eridan. I choose Eridan too,” she giggled, and Kanaya joined her in a burst of laughter. They slipped around in the bath, elbowing each other’s sides and knocking each other’s knees, and laughed harder for it. Rose shoved Kanaya from her and righted herself, and patted around for the roach worriedly.  
  
Kanaya held it before her, and leaned very close and pressed it to Rose’s lips for her with a smile approaching a smirk. “Truth or dare?”  
  
Rose stared at her as she drew from the bit, slowly exhaling when Kanaya lowered it. “Dare.”  
  
“Ugh.” Kanaya narrowed her eyes. “Just... pick truth. Dare isn’t a thing. Truth time.”  
  
“Is that the game? Truth time?” Rose giggled, and Kanaya gave an abrupt cackle, then pressed her hands over her mouth, surprised at the sound. Rose was grinning at her.  
  
“Yes. Truth time,”  Kanaya said, trying very hard to stay serious.“Who is hotter: Vriska, or Jade?”  
  
“Jade,” Rose said immediately, shaking her head. “Vriska is too much of a bitch. She pulls off that bad indifferent girl look, but Jade is just a pleasure to be around you know?”  
  
“I think Vriska is pretty cute,” Kanaya murmured. Rose stared at her for a long moment.  
  
“You liked her?”  
  
“Um -- yes. A while ago. It was pretty stupid.”  
  
“I don’t blame you,” Rose said. “Truth or dare?”  
  
“Truth. Truth time.”  
  
“Who is the hottest prefect?”  
  
“Whoa.” Kanaya slid down the side of the bath, her eyes wide. “Wow. That is really hard to answer. All of them are hot.”  
  
“Yeah, but who is the best of those hotties?” Rose said, squinting at Kanaya as she asked. “We all have types, Kanaya. Who is your type?”  
  
“Um.” Kanaya looked up at the bathroom lights, and regretted it immediately as it flooded her vision. Stupid light. She looked at Rose a little nervously. “Probably... Roxy.”  
  
“I see.” Rose said with a smirk.  
  
“Latula too.”  
  
“I whole heartedl...y... yes.” Rose blushed, but also giggled. “I’m slurring. Mayday. We may have imbibed too much cannabis.”  
  
Kanaya scoffed. “And who is your prefect crush?” Kanaya asked, peering at Rose with a peculiar smile. Rose slapped her lightly on the face.  
  
“Porrim and Meenah. Equally. Both totally great.”  
  
“Porrim is excellent.” Kanaya muttered. “Meenah is more. Hm. Interesting? Than hot. I find her intriguing, mostly.”  
  
“I think she has a good... part of attitude, and. And kind of.” Rose frowned. “Down to earthness. She’s cool.”  
  
“She doesn’t take her prefect duties very seriously.”  
  
“Yeah, well, it’s no wonder she didn’t get Head Girl.” Rose shifted to face Kanaya and smirked again, and Kanaya waved her off. “Think it runs in the family?”  
  
“I am not being Head Girl.” Kanaya muttered.  
  
“You’re perfect for it.”  
  
“No I’m not. You should be Head Girl.”  
  
Rose looked away and chewed at her lip, then sighed. “Perhaps.” She fell back against the side of the bath. “I’m not as irresponsible as Roxy.”  
  
“Roxy is a prefect.”  
  
“Purely because of popularity. My sister can’t enforce rules she breaks on a weekly basis.”  
  
“People like her for a reason.” Kanaya glanced at Rose. “You know. You know how loveable she is.”  
  
“Yeah, well.” Rose fiddled with the blunt before taking another draw. “It takes more than being loveable. Porrim though.” Rose whistled low. “She’s practically perfect. Beautiful, responsible, fashionable. Considerate. Politically minded. And people like her.” Rose shook her head. “Hard to beat that.”  
  
“She’s not so spotless as that,” Kanaya muttered, then slid on her side. “Roxy isn’t perfect, but she’s. Good. Really good. She’s so nice, and -- I see her doing work for the school she isn’t asked to do, like picking up litter and gardening, and she never mentions it. She just cares. And she always makes jokes with the lower grades and makes them feel comfortable. And she is so smart, running the school network and -- and how she gave the computers in the dorm that proxy, that goes through school restrictions? And she’s so good at physics. Who is good at physics? Your sister, apparently.”  
  
“Jesus, Maryam, cool your lady boner.” Rose chuckled.  
  
“I just think she is nice.” Kanaya said quietly. Rose sighed, and seemed to be distracted, then dropped a hand to run through Kanaya’s hair.  
  
“What do you think of rodeos?”  
  
“What.... are rodeos?”  
  
Rose looked at Kanaya for a long moment, then snickered, and tumbled into laughter so strong she had tears in her eyes. Kanaya was glaring at her half-heartedly.  
  
“Rodeo is a stupid word.”  
  
“Maybe,” Rose murmured through her giggles. She resumed her hair stroking. ”Yeah, it kind of is.”  
  
“Yep.”  
  
Rose hummed. “Pretty girl,” She murmured. Kanaya blushed and held Rose’s wrist, though not to restrict her movements. She stroked her arm, pushing her sleeve out of the way, and focused on the feel of Rose’s fingers scratching and massaging her scalp.  
  
“Humans are so strange,” Rose said, and when Kanaya looked at her her eyes were blown and black as ever, and latched to her hand still sifting through Kanaya’s hair. “With their warm skin, and goosebumps, and cool hair. What is even up with that.”  
  
Rose’s hand drifted from Kanaya’s hair to the side of her face,  her thumb trailing the bridge of her nose, then brushing over her lips, free of makeup, just as Rose’s were. “What is your favourite part of a human?” Kanaya asked against her fingers.  
  
Rose bent down and came very close to her, and licked her parted mouth in an intentionally unsatisfying manner. “They have lovely minds.” She suddenly kissed Kanaya hard, their teeth knocking together uncomfortably, but it was dulled by the green, and Kanaya arched to her and opened her mouth eagerly. Rose’s hand fisted in her hair, tugging and making her moan. Kanaya remembered, as she did whenever they kissed, that Rose’s dominance felt almost shamefully good to her. Most things about Rose felt good to her.

She was surprised when Rose drew away and crushed the smoke against the side of the bath, then flicked it away. She looked down at Kanaya and kissed her again, softly now. Rose placed her hands against Kanaya’s cheek and the side of her neck, and kissed her slowly and with more care than usual. It was somewhat confusing, but hardly took from the pleasure of it; she still made that quiet noise in her throat when Rose’s tongue swept against hers, and the gentle friction made their lips tingle. Kanaya could feel her hand trembling as she pressed it to Rose’s cheek, then through her hair, fine and gold and intricate and smooth as silk. She pushed the headband from it and tugged at it experimentally, and Rose moaned, and kissed her more thoroughly.  
  
Rose’s hand sat still at the base of Kanaya’s throat, as it tended to do. Kanaya wondered if Rose was conscious of it, and how intimately close it was to choking. Perhaps the gesture was not linked to asphyxiation. She supposed it could be a gentle vise of sorts. That suited Rose.  
  
The hand moved to slip down beneath her shirt. Kanaya took in a sharp breath as it settled over her breast. Rose quickly backtracked and pressed beneath her bra, and brushed her thumb against Kanaya’s nipple, smiling into their kiss. Kanaya squeezed her legs together and arched, pressing her chest up against Rose’s hand because she needed more, she needed Rose to touch her more firmly, Rose could be so-- she was so frustrating. Rose moved as if to remove her hand, because Rose was mean, and Kanaya whimpered and grabbed her hand and pressed it hard to her chest. Rose broke the kiss with a bite and a big smile.  
  
“You’re awfully demanding.”  
  
“Rose, please.” Kanaya looked up at her with what she assumed was an embarrassingly pleading expression. “You know it’s not -- just touch me please, please,” Kanaya dropped her head and almost felt close to tears suddenly. “Please...”  
  
“Whoa.” Rose tucked a hand beneath Kanaya’s head and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to sit up. Kanaya leaned against Rose with her head beneath her chin and her legs folded over Rose’s. “Okay. Calm down, love.”  
  
“I’m calm,” Kanaya muttered, grabbing Rose’s hand and attempting to bring it back to her chest. She missed and placed it over her ribs instead. Rose tugged her hand from Kanaya’s guidance and began undoing the buttons of her shirt.  
  
“Sit up higher. Up.” Rose kissed her neck when they were level, Kanaya tipping her head back against Rose’s shoulder. She snapped open the last button, and nibbled on Kanaya’s ear as she palmed her chest. Kanaya felt like her blood was going mad. Her entire body, every part of it. Her cheeks were on fire and her head was heavy and her heartbeat was low, low, deep down in the apex of her. She felt like all of it was moving too fast. Except Rose’s hands. They weren’t too fast. They were lovely.  
  
Rose’s fingers trailed down her stomach and navel, drifting beneath the band of her skirt. Kanaya felt Rose bite her lip right beside her ear, and when Rose slipped beneath her underwear she felt her gasp quietly. “You’re really wet.”  
  
“Well, we’re in a bath, aren’t we?” Kanaya giggled at her own joke, and then choked on it as Rose cupped her, pressing her palm hard against her clit. Kanaya’s legs drifted apart as she moved up against Rose’s hand, and she stopped, and instead ran her fingers – index and middle, a little calloused from a life of avid violin and cello playing – through her lips. She pressed her thumb against the bundle of nerves above, and the sensation of it reverberated through Kanaya’s whole being like her maddening blood, and made her shake despite herself.  
  
“You feel like an alien,” Rose managed through her quick breath, dipping into her teasingly, half a finger deep. Kanaya took a deep breath and tilted her head to look at her.  
  
“Sometimes, I t-think I am one.” Rose looked at her, and kissed her cheek and pushed another finger in, right to the knuckle. Kanaya moaned and arched, and braced herself against the bath as she moved against Rose’s hand faster and harder. God, Rose was good. Rose was so fucking good, with her sweet kisses and the way she fucked her. She loved Rose.  
  
Then, Rose’s fingers stilled within her. Kanaya gasped in something close to outrage. “W-what?”  
  
“Do it yourself,” Rose said, kissing Kanaya’s shoulder. “My arm is tired. You were doing a pretty good job.”  
  
Kanaya scowled and blushed to her roots. She simultaneously loved and hated how Rose would play with her. She placed her hand over Rose’s and rocked her hips, forcing Rose’s palm against that sweet, sweet nub where her heartbeat had migrated. She shifted her weight to her knees and braced herself on Rose’s hand and the bath edge before her, and rode her fingers. It was embarrassing. She felt Rose’s other hand press at the back of her thigh, then slide underneath her skirt, both pushing it aside and taking the chance to grab her ass.  
  
“You’re beautiful,” Rose sighed and leaned forward to kiss her cheek, and seemed so pleased that Kanaya felt smug about it. She did have a great ass. She exaggerated her movements, rolling and twisting her hips, and Rose chuckled but enjoyed it, Kanaya knew. Her hand moved up to the curve of Kanaya’s hip and braced it, and guided her down harder. It was painfully arousing. She was going to come soon; which was probably a good thing, since her thighs were starting to tremble with the strain of her movements.  
  
Rose curled her fingers, and Kanaya stilled like a storm on the cusp of breaking. Rose’s grip on her hips took over, and she brushed a spot – the spot, Kanaya thought – twice, three times, and Kanaya quaked and arched with a soundless cry, and held Rose’s hand tight between her legs, riding out the pleasure. She eventually settled a little, and fell back against Rose.  
  
“Good girl,” Rose murmured, pecking Kanaya’s temple. Kanaya took breaths that shook her whole body as Rose continued to rub her, just for the feel of it, then removed her fingers. Kanaya gasped as she did, and moved back to look at Rose.  
  
“That was mean.”  
  
“You liked it.” Kanaya frowned, and leaned forward to bite Rose’s neck hard. She gasped and attempted to move back, slipping to the side. She pressed a hand to her neck. “Ow.”  
  
“You liked it,” Kanaya said snarkily, and Rose smirked at her.  
  
“Touché.” Rose brought her hand up and sucked at her fingers with a satisfied hum. “What do you eat? You taste great.”  
  
“I know,” Kanaya said, lying back against Rose heavily. “You taste pretty good yourself.”  
  
“Oh? What do I taste like?”  
  
Kanaya peered up at her and grinned. “Violet.”  
  
Rose rolled her eyes. “Shush. That’s not even possible. No vagina could ever be that pleasant.”  
  
Kanaya turned to brace herself over Rose, and smiled as she studied her face. “You taste delicious.” She said quietly. Rose flushed and stared at her, eyes dark – less blown – and mouth partly open. She licked her lips and swallowed.  
  
“Um.”  
  
“Don’t worry. I’m not exactly up for returning the favour right now.”  
  
Rose relaxed. “Okay. I would like to be sober when you do, is all.”  
  
“I know, Rose.” Kanaya slumped against the bath and fanned herself. “I need to cool down.”  
  
“Yeah, same.” Rose muttered. Kanaya felt Rose shift beneath her, but made no great effort to watch her. “Sit forward.”  
  
Kanaya obeyed with a curious glance back at Rose. She was holding a showerhead. “Going to bathe me?”  
  
“Yep.” Rose twisted the taps and pressed it into her hand, and when she was satisfied with the temperature she sprayed and rubbed at Kanaya’s back.  
  
“Could you make it a little hotter?” Kanaya murmured, and Rose complied. Kanaya leaned back against the hand working her shoulder, slowly moving down her back. Rose snapped open her bra, and Kanaya pulled it off quickly, because she liked it and wouldn’t want to ruin it; it was simple in design, but it was a good shade of green and black, and comfortable.  
  
“Here.” Rose pushed the shower head into her hands, and then worked on Kanaya’s shoulders with both hands. Kanaya let the warm water run over her chest and sighed as Rose hit the knots in her back. “Feel good?”  
  
“Yeah.” Kanaya arched as Rose hit a particularly tender spot. “Oh man. Yes.” Rose chuckled and focused on it. Kanaya rose the water over her shoulder to pour down her back again, and it felt heavenly on her tight muscles. She smiled and peered behind her, and angled the showerhead so it went just over her shoulder, and full into Rose’s face.

  
Rose sputtered and slapped Kanaya’s back. “Stop it!”

“No,” Kanaya giggled, sliding around the bath to spray Rose more accurately. She scowled and launched herself at Kanaya, grasping the showerhead and attempting to wrench it from her grip. Kanaya rolled around beneath her, hugging the warm jet to her chest. Rose straddled her waist.

“You made my uniform all wet.” Rose unbuttoned her shirt and threw it to the towel rack, which it hit and fell from, a soggy miserable bunch on the ground. Rose was already working on her skirt.

“Like you weren’t already.” Kanaya waggled her eyebrows and Rose blushed, but couldn’t help laughing. Her skirt joined the other discarded clothes.

“That’s a good point,” She murmured, grinding her hips down. Kanaya perked up in interest, and twisted about below her so she was on her back, waterjet pressed close against her skin.

“Change your mind?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, make a move.” Kanaya grinned, and Rose smirked and leaned down, a hand sliding up Kanaya’s waist, streaming with the water spraying against her chest. She pressed her lips to Kanaya’s softly, then not so softly, and quickly swept Kanaya up in her signature kiss, controlled and forceful and amazing. She felt Rose’s fingers brush her nipples and moaned quietly, and then felt Rose’s hand slipping beneath hers, and then the water was gone, and so was Rose, and that bitch was spraying her with the showerhead. Kanaya blindly flailed and pushed Rose off of her. “I can’t believe you!”

Rose was sprawled on her back and laughing so hard she was gripping her side. “Oh my god, I actually seduced it from your hands. That was on my fucking bucket list. I can die a fulfilled woman.”

“Butt face,” Kanaya muttered, slapping her thigh, and Rose laughed harder. She sprayed the water at Kanaya briefly, just to annoy her, then shut the taps off.

“That was fun.”

Kanaya stared at her, eyes narrowed, then smiled. “Yeah, it was.” They looked at eachother, lying across the bath with their feet in each other's faces, half naked and soaked, and Kanaya patted the porcelain beside her. “Come up here.”

Rose slid around a little awkwardly in the slick bath and clambered up to Kanaya, drifting down the edge to rest next to her. She tucked her head beneath Kanaya’s chin and rested a hand on her damp chest. Kanaya wrapped an arm around her. “This is nice.”

“Yeah.” Kanaya could hear Rose matching her breathing to hers, or trying to. “I’m sleepy. Are you sleepy?”

“A little.” Rose said quietly. “The heartbeat is quite comforting.”

Kanaya hummed and kissed her hair. She felt Rose relax against her, and closed her eyes. She thought briefly about their clothes, and hanging them so they didn’t rumple. Then she fell asleep.

\-----

They were woken rudely and abruptly, and with a jet of cold water right to their faces.

“I can’t fuckin’ believe this. You didn’t even lock the door.”

Kanaya jumped into a sitting position immediately, and upon seeing the three new people suddenly in the bathroom, threw her arms over her chest. Roxy and Calliope stood staring down at them, amused and embarrassed, while Porrim was perched on the side of the bath with the showerhead, smiling down at her. Rose was bunched up, hiding as much of her as possible, and was smirking feebly at them.  
  
“Sister.” Kanaya rubbed her eyes and glanced between the three of them, her blush becoming steadily stronger. “Um. Could you hand me my shirt?”  
  
“Nope.” Porrim looked her over and grinned. “You’re doing a walk of shame back to your rooms. Your respective rooms.” Porrim’s face became serious. “You’re in a spot of trouble, I’m afraid, but what can we do? Missing school. Stealing from a prefect. Taking unsavory substances on campus, during school time.” Porrim cast a look back at Roxy. “Possessing unsavory substances on campus.” The older Lalonde had the decency to look embarrassed.  
  
“I persuaded Kanaya to do it with me -- I stole the, uh, substances, too.” Rose looked between them imploringly. “Surely you can at least put most of the blame on me when you take this to the headmaster?”  
  
“We’re considering simply not mentioning the drugs.” Calliope said with a soft smile. “Frankly, we would hate to be the cause of that much trauma upon you poor things. Mrs. Frost lives up to her name.”  
  
“And her title,” Roxy muttered. “They don’t call her Snowman for no reason. You two are lucky you have prefects for sisters. We never had people to bail us out.”  
  
“The shit we got up to was amazing.” Porrim chuckled.  
  
“Yeah we were like, impressively awful at following the rules.” Roxy  nudged Calliope, who was already looking embarrassed. “Except for this one. She was a fucking saint. Still is.” Roxy smirked and kissed her red cheek.  
  
“Yeah, okay, we’re gonna go.” Rose made her awkward way out of the bath and pulled Kanaya up with her. “Not that you talking about ‘the good old days’ of like, two years ago, isn’t fascinating.”  
  
“Yeah, whatever. Get your asses back to your rooms. Your clothes have been dried and hung there!” Porrim called as they sped down the halls giggling and covering themselves as best they could. Porrim rolled her eyes. “I can’t tell if your sister is a good influence or not.”  
  
“She’s not.” Roxy said immediately.  
  
“I think Rose is lovely, if a little rebellious.” Calliope patted Roxy’s arm. “She’s quite a lot like you, dear.”  
  
“Only smarter, and more of an asshole.” Roxy sighed and rolled her shoulders. “Whatever. We should go chill. Get some dinner maybe.”  
  
“Got any more of those unsavory substances?” Porrim asked.  
  
“Yes. Totally. You’re in, right babe?” Calliope looked at her for a moment, considering, then shrugged and smiled.  
“Sure.”  
  
“Great! Get Latula and stuff. We’ll meet in the art room.”  
  
\----  
  
Rose and Kanaya sat on the dorm’s balcony, looking down over the campus. They watched a group of the prefects laughing and going off toward the school’s main building. Porrim and Latula were there, with their arms about eachother. So was Damara, and Meenah, Aranea and Jane. Kanaya sighed.  
  
“So.”  
  
“So...”  
  
“That was mortifying.” Kanaya said. Rose nodded.  
  
“Yes. Yes it was.”  
  
“Can we agree to not do that again?”  
  
“Not even hanging out in the bath?” Rose asked.  
  
“Hm. The bath was fun,” Kanaya conceded. “But no more skipping class to get stoned.”  
  
“I can live with that.” Rose muttered. She rested her head on her arms and peered up at Kanaya. “It was fun though, wasn’t it?”  
  
“It was rather.” Kanaya leaned forward on the railing and kissed Rose’s cheek, and smiled at her warmly. “We’re still not doing it again.”  
  
“Killjoy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what the next one-shot is going to contain but I'm thinking the gym storage room should be infiltrated. Yes. Yes good.


	3. On A Sunday Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose goes places.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the gym infiltration didn't happen but there is talk of burglary so I think that may make up for it.
> 
> warning for talk of incestuous happenings.

The morning sunlight was as pillars, filtered through stain glass windows, highlighting the altar and the podium beyond it, and the beginning of the aisle.  
  
The pews had mostly emptied, teachers chatting at the head of the hall, students sitting and leaning against doorways, all on their way to leaving. Rose stood before the rows of candles and ran her fingers through their flames. She examined her fingertips and found them stained black. A bell closed over the furthest candle to her right.  
  
“Hello, Rosie.” Nepeta smiled as she put another candle out. Rose tucked her hand into her skirt.  
  
“Nepeta. You’re a church attendant?”  
  
“Yep. I want to be a nun.” Nepeta glanced at the candles, and back to Rose. “Were you praying?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Nepeta grinned. “I was kinda surprised to see you at the alter!”  
  
“I was just enjoying the candles.”  
  
Nepeta hummed at her words. “Thou shalt make also a candlestick of beaten work of the finest gold, the shaft thereof, and the branches, the cups, and the bowls, and the lilies going forth from it.”  
  
Rose couldn’t quite hide her surprise. “A Bible passage?”  
  
“Exodus 25:31. Fire is a holy symbol, because it’s the light that pierces the darkness.”  
  
“Fire burns, too.”  
  
“Yep!” Nepeta put another out. “It burns the bad away.”  
  
“I see.”  
  
Nepeta smiled and tilted her head and looked at Rose closely. “Did you come to The Mass for any particular reason?”  
  
“I was just curious.”  
  
“Well, I am glad you are here!” Nepeta beamed and bounced on her feet, and Rose was about to say something, but was thrown off by Nepeta’s noticing something behind her and calling out, “Kan!”  
  
Rose turned to see Kanaya standing beside the podium, her face fallen and pale and staring at Rose. She quickly looked to the energetic girl behind her. “Morning, Nepeta.”  
  
“The other room is being used, but you can just read out here; nobody really comes by but to pray until about twelve.”  
  
Kanaya took the Bible from the podium wordlessly, and sat in the first row on the left, flicking through the delicate pages and settling around half way through. Rose ran her fingers through the flames as she watched her, then walked up. Kanaya glanced at her. “Am I disturbing you?”  
  
Kanaya looked like she was about to say she was, then seemed to rethink it and smiled. “No.” Rose sat beside her.  
  
“So, what you study every Sunday is The Bible?  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Hm. I was wondering why you weren’t in the library during these hours.”  
  
Kanaya gave her a smile and didn’t respond beyond that. Rose looked around the building. It was reasonably large; no cathedral, but spacious, with decently rustic architecture, though it was obviously built in this century. “Why are you coming here to read, anyway?”  
  
Kanaya looked at Rose in surprise, then looked around the building with a considering face. “I am not sure. I suppose it is the tranquil atmosphere. And, although they are not my traditions, this is considered the house of God by many. It feels right to read such a book here.”  
  
“I see.”  
  
Kanaya looked at Rose and smiled like she was embarrassed, and shook her head. “My sister and I -- we were raised under Islam, as I am sure you know. Porrim and Kankri would take me to the mosque to read the Qur’an. I loved it. The building was amazing. We would stay until the afternoon prayers and conduct them in the musallah. Porrim would say ‘These buildings are the closest to God’, and that praying within them was a blessing, even if it wasn’t an Eids.”  
  
Rose propped her head on her hand and smiled at Kanaya. “I have no idea what half those terms mean, but it sounds like a nice tradition to have grown up with.”  
  
“The musallah is the prayer hall of a mosque. Eids are holidays. And it was.” Kanaya hummed. “More than the prayer and the reading, I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with my sister, I think. Even if she mostly did it to placate my mother. I admired my sister greatly as a child.”  
  
“So... you’re Muslim?”  
  
“No,” Kanaya laughed. “I would be considered a sinner by... all Muslims.”  
  
“Oh, I wonder why.” Rose murmured, and Kanaya smirked.  
  
“I’m afraid me getting up to anything with anyone would be considered haraam, female and Lalonde or not.” Kanaya waved her hand. “I don’t do the prayers, either. Or wear a headdress. I would be a pretty awful Muslim.”  
  
“I find you being awful at anything hard to believe.”  
  
“You must not know me very well.”  
  
Rose quirked her brow. “I like to think I know you very well.”  
  
“Perhaps,” Kanaya said with an enigmatic tilt of her head. Rose looked at her closely, the light on her skin and hair and her lashes and her curling lips. She looked around the building again, and cleared her throat.  
  
“Are you religious?”  
  
“No.” Kanaya’s eyes dropped down, and she shook her head and looked back at the Bible in her hands. “I have reading to do.”  
  
“Alright.” Rose stood up. She gave a little wave to Kanaya, and one to Nepeta, and decided it was a nice day for a walk.  
  
\----  
  
Rose found Jade lazing beneath the shadow of an oak tree, her stray dog and best friend beside her. Rose sat on the large dog’s other side and rubbed at the soft fur at his neck. “Hey.”  
  
“Rose.” Jade blinked as if woken up, and shifted the book resting over most of her face and smiled up at her.  
  
Rose took the book open over Jade’s chest to look at the title, finger jammed between the pages to keep her place. “Physics. Why am I not surprised?”  
  
“Says the girl with two different psychology textbooks and a DSM currently resting in her schoolbag,” Jade murmured.  
  
“How did you know that?”  
  
“Guessed.”  
  
“You’re the mathematician, Harley; that isn’t guessing.”  
  
“It was a calculated guess.”  
  
“Right,” Rose chuckled, and Bec bumped his head up against her hand, and turned to lick at her arm.  
  
“Bec has always liked you the best – well, other than me.”  
  
Rose smiled. “Dogs lick you for the salt off your skin.”  
  
“You must be awfully salty then, Rose.”  
  
Rose quirked her brow at her. “Well, why don’t you have a try and tell me if it’s so?” She said jokingly. Jade smirked and moved to lean over Bec, and licked her neck not at all like the dog would. She sat back and smiled.

  
“Yep. Pretty salty.” She reclined as she was before and held the book hovering above her, and didn’t say anything more. Rose lay back and stared up at the tree, with the pins of light between its leaves, and then glanced at Jade.  
  
“Had breakfast yet?”  
  
“Yeah.” Jade dropped her book to her chest and looked at Rose. “You do realise I’m into you, right?”  
  
Rose opened her mouth to reply, then closed it, and rubbed at the back of her neck. “Admittedly, I hadn’t realised, no. I’m sorry.”  
  
“There’s no need to apologize! You’re totally wrapped up in Kanaya. I understand.”  
  
Rose grimaced. “I’m sorry, Jade.”  
  
“It’s okay. Really. I like your relationship with Kanaya; it’s cute.”  
  
“I suppose.”  
  
Jade grinned big. “You two don’t even realise, do you?” She sighed and dropped her head to the folded sweater beneath it. “So close you can’t see the enormity of all the things that make you two what you are.”  
  
“What are we?”  
  
“In love.”  
  
“I don’t know about that.”  
  
“You are. It’s way obvious.”  
  
“Right,” Rose muttered.  
  
“You’d better not ruin it.”  
  
Rose looked at Jade. “I won’t.”  
  
“You better not.”  
  
“I said I won’t.”  
  
Jade smiled and pushed her book up just below her glasses and closed her eyes. Rose sat up and glared out over the grass and trees and pavement paths.  
  
“So you’re into me, but you prefer me with Kanaya.”  
  
“Yes. But I mean, I like a lot of people. Kanaya included.”  
  
“Oh,” Is all Rose could say, because that made sense. It made sense of the fact she couldn’t count the number of people Jade had kissed and fucked and briefly dated on both her hands and feet. “Who do you like?”  
  
“Nepeta, Karkat, Dave, Feferi, Kanaya, Aradia and Tavros.”  
  
“That is more than I expected.”  
  
Jade shrugged. “I really like people.”  
  
“You like all of them equally?”  
  
Jade stared off. “I have favourites, of a kind. Dave, you, Kanaya and Karkat. I guess it’s closer to love with them -- and you.”  
  
Rose flexed her hands and stared at them, then glanced around the park and the paths and at Bec and everything that wasn’t Jade. “Why them?”  
  
“Because they’re interesting. You’re interesting. They’re interesting with eachother, too.” Jade shrugged. “I like seeing people be good together, almost more than I like interacting with them myself! When I see Dave and Karkat bickering, It’s just so amusing and funny, and that tension they have that they won’t admit?” Jade grinned goofily. “It’s attractive!”  
  
Rose folded her legs and brought them to her chest. “Go on.”  
  
“You’re interested?”  
  
“If you’re willing to share,” Rose prompted, smiling, and Jade nodded enthusiastically.  
  
“Totally! No one has really asked me before. Well, I like how you and Dave interact because you’re cute. You’re seventeen, yet you banter and argue like children, and antagonize each other for ridiculous reasons. It’s kinda charming! And I like Kanaya and Karkat for the same reason, though they’re more warm and cute than argumentative and cute. Karkat doesn’t act like he does around Kanaya with anyone else.”  
  
“They are close,” Rose remarked, rocking forward where she sat, and Jade looked at her with a soft smile.  
  
“Don’t worry, Rose.”  
  
“I’m not worried.”  
  
“Mmhmm.”  
  
Rose dropped her head. “Why’d you do that?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Lick me.”  
  
Jade chuckled and lifted the book above her again. “Because you wanted me to.”  
  
“No I didn’t.”  
  
Jade levelled her with a simple, knowing look. “Sure.”  
  
Rose looked out again. “I didn’t,” she muttered to herself. She stood and brushed the grass from her pants, and then went off down the path again.  
  
\----  
  
She knocked on the door exactly seven times, as she always did. She waited for a long moment, and listened for movement, and heard only minor shifting and not much of anything else. Perhaps Roxy was not in. Rose had never dropped in at this particular time on this particular day, and Roxy kept to her and Calliope’s schedule surprisingly well. Who knew what was booked for a late Sunday morning. They were probably sleeping in.  
  
“I’m coming in,” She called, and tried the door and found it unlocked. She pushed into the room. Her eyebrows arched.  
  
They were certainly in bed, though Rose wasn’t sure she would call that sleeping. Roxy let out a curse and fell back against the pillow in agitation, of all things, while Calliope righted Roxy’s open shirt and rubbed at the black lipstick smeared all over her own face uselessly. Rose span on her heel. “Oh shit, sorry--”  
  
“It’s fine,” Calliope called courteously, and Rose bit back a smile at how unsuited it was to the situation and how Calliope it was for that to not be an issue. “We should have locked the door.”  
  
“Oh my god.” Rose peeked over her shoulder to see Roxy gently pushing at Calliope’s shoulders and sliding out from under her. She glanced bright pink striped underwear before her long shirt covered it, Roxy crossing her arms to keep it closed. Mostly. Rose turned back around as Roxy sighed. “What’s up?”  
  
“I honestly just wanted to say hi,” Rose said awkwardly, and Roxy narrowed her eyes. She opened her mouth to tell Rose to leave.  
  
“I find that very unlikely, love.” Calliope came to stand beside Roxy, and was fiddling with her collar, and pressing the wrinkles as best she could from her shirt. She had green boy shorts on. They were cute. “Something is bothering you. You wouldn’t have come at such a time otherwise.”  
  
“That’s not the case, I assure you.” Rose put her hands up. “I’m just going to leave you guys to--”  
  
“I think it is,” Calliope interrupted with a thin smile. Roxy was quirking a brow. Rose looked between them.  
  
“Okay, fine. Yes. Something is bothering me.”  
  
Roxy looked at Calliope, and she looked back, and they stared at each other and did that thing that ridiculously secure couples do where they talk without their words. Roxy let out another long sigh. “Alright. Fuck. Step into our office.” Roxy stood aside, and Rose slowly sat in their shared study table’s office chair. They sat on the bed - Calliope’s, from the gold and green sheets and the stack of sketch books beside it - and looked at her expectantly.  
  
“Well. Um. Jade is romantically interested in me.”  
  
“Saw it from the fuckin’ moon, Rose, get your head in the game.”  
  
“Really? I didn’t notice at all.”  
  
“We never do,” Calliope said. Roxy glanced at her.  
  
“It wasn’t like, super awkward was it? Jade is pretty straightforward.”  
  
“It was okay. I got the feeling she didn’t really expect anything? Like me returning her feelings, or even really considering it.”  
  
“She probably just wanted to be honest with you,” Calliope said.  
  
“I suspect as much. She encouraged me to maintain my relationship with Kanaya to the best of my abilities.”  
  
“Jade is way compassionate,” Roxy murmured. Rose smiled.  
  
“She is. I hope at least a few of her romantic endeavours turn out favourably.”  
  
“A few?” Calliope asked, and Roxy glanced between them. “So she is polyamorous?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“I thought so.”  
  
“Whoa, what. I had no idea that was a thing.” Roxy frowned. “Though I guess that makes sense.”  
  
“I really hope I didn’t hurt her,” Rose sighed, resting her head in her palm.  
  
“I doubt it. She sounds like she was pretty cool with things. And I think she would tell you if she were hurting.” Roxy smiled and leaned over to pat Rose’s thigh. “You guys will be fine. I doubt she wants to like, hunt that ass down.”  
  
“Perhaps. But she, well, made a move, so to speak, so I’m a little confused.”  
  
“What was the move?”  
  
“She licked my neck.”  
  
“Bold.” Roxy muttered. Calliope hummed.  
  
“She also said I wanted her to? But if I ever gave any signals, I’m not aware of them. I’m never quite sure with Jade; she has a penchant for saying mysterious things, and those things are never as literal as they seem. Me wanting her to could mean anything.”  
  
Calliope was watching her quietly, and Roxy look to be mulling it over. “It could have been a desire you weren’t aware of that she sensed. But, man - you and Kanaya are real tight. Can’t see you going back on that.”  
  
Rose ran a hand through her fringe, and laughed to herself. “She said me and Kanaya are in love, but are... too close to realise, or something along those lines. Again, not entirely sure what to make of that.”  
  
“Aren’t you?”  
  
Rose looked up. "Kanaya and I aren’t going out.”  
  
Calliope and Roxy looked at eachother like they did before, and Rose knew exactly what they were eye-saying.  
  
“Of course, love.”  
  
“Whatever you say babe.”  
  
Rose grimaced and looked at her hands, tangled together and fidgeting beyond her awareness, and when she looked up Roxy was looking off pensively, Calliope watching her.  
  
“Jade is fine. Unless she says otherwise, unless you pick up on anything, accept what she says.” Roxy leaned forward and held Rose’s eye. “You should talk to Kanaya about the state of your relationship.” Roxy looked at her expectantly. Rose swallowed and nodded.  
  
Roxy stood up. “Good. Now get out. Me and Calli have unfinished business.” Rose stood up and sighed dramatically, slumping, just because she could. Roxy slapped her ass hard enough to make her jump as she left. “Good luck!”  
  
Rose began to make her way to her dorm, intent on wasting a few hours perusing the internet and reading - at least until lunch time. Perhaps she could ask Kanaya to accompany her. Perhaps as a date, even. Rose supposed that is what kept their relationship so ambiguous; they had never officially asked each other out, or thought of terms to call each other. They were friends. Best friends. Friends that made out and stripped in baths and had sex and Rose was getting horny, god, Kanaya really got to her. She needed to get back to her dorm. She didn’t think she’d be reading for a while.  
  
“Rose.”  
  
Rose stopped and looked back, only mildly surprised to have Porrim calling after her. Damara was there too, with a hand on her chin and her usual roaming eyes. Porrim walked past her and slipped an arm through hers, Damara doing the same on the other side, and Rose was forced down the hall with both of them. “Have you seen Kanaya today?”

  
“Last I saw, she was reading at the church.”

“What a boring girl.” Porrim slapped Damara’s arm.

“Good. We need you for a while; mind coming with us?”

“Do I actually have a choice?”

“Of course,” Porrim said.

“No,” Damara said, and she was always more honest. Rose glanced at Porrim, then sighed.

“Very well.”

They pulled her into their dorm, and guided her to a bed - Porrim’s, the sheets were exactly the same as Kanaya’s - and sat her down on its edge. They stood in front of her and looked at her and smiled. Rose shifted.

“We need you to retrieve something for us.”

“Retrieve?”

“Steal.” Damara clarified.

“Ah.”

“It’s a camcorder. There’s some...” Porrim glanced at Damara. “Delicate material on there. Incriminating, in fact.”

“And you want me to steal it?”

“Yes. It’s in the arts store room; red tag, number 16.”

“Latula put the wrong camera back in the stores after doing one of her stupid skating videos,” Damara sneered.

“I like her skating videos. She’s hot in her onesie.”

“You say that as if you aren’t thinking about what is beneath it the whole time.” Porrim blushed, but grinned, and Damara returned it.

“What’s on it?” Rose asked.

“What do you think?” Porrim rolled her eyes at Damara’s sharp tone.

“We’re going to leave that to your imagination.”

“Fair enough.” Rose scratched the back of her neck. “Couldn’t you do this yourselves, though? You’re prefects. You have a lot more power than most - all students.”

“We can’t get caught doing these things; prefects are punished by the principal, and it would lose us our position.” Damara smirked. “You, on the other hand, are but a young hapless eleventh. If you’re caught, we can simply... not punish you.”

“Prefects have complete control of student punishment outside of the classroom,” Porrim reminded her. “And all the prefects are in on this.”

Rose looked between them. “Alright. I’ll do it.”

“Great! Be a dear and do it soon, if you will.” Porrim smiled and petted her hair, then slid her fingers through it and scratched her scalp. “I can promise repayment.”

Rose stared up at the unnervingly attractive girl playing with her hair, and Damara smiling at her with promise, and flushed in sudden embarrassment. “Um.”

“That’s all.” Damara stepped aside and jerked her head. “Now go.”

Rose stood up and wandered out of the room, peering back to see Porrim gesturing encouragingly and Damara shutting the door.

She made her way back to her dorm. She was momentarily surprised to find Kanaya reclined on her bed, book open on her propped up legs. Rose sat beside her and peered at the words. “Journey to the East?”

“How could you even tell?”

“I read.”

Kanaya shut the book and peered up at her. She leaned over to kiss Rose’s shoulder. “How are you?”

“Good, I think.” Rose tapped her arm, and Kanaya moved enough for Rose to join her. Kanaya instinctively opened her arm, and Rose instinctively cuddled up to her, burying her nose into the crook of her neck. She nuzzled at the spot behind Kanaya’s ear. “And how are you?”

“Bored.” Kanaya’s hand was stroking her arm. “I wasn’t sure where you had gone after you met me in the church.”

Rose sat up so she could look at her. “About that. I was kind of curious about something.”

“Alright.”

“Why did you look so alarmed when I saw you there?”

Kanaya’s smile became a thin line. “It’s not important.”

“Kanaya.”

“Really, Rose.”

Rose frowned. “Is it because of the things I say about organized religion?” Kanaya didn’t reply. “It is, isn’t it. Kanaya, I’m not going to be against you being religious. It doesn’t matter to me at all. We have different beliefs - its fine.”

“I’m not religious.”

“Is the reading a simply curiosity?”

“No.” Kanaya rubbed at the side of her nose, her brow furrowing. “I believe in God. I’m just not religious.”

Rose grimaced, and glanced down at her hand with Kanaya’s resting beside it. “So why did you seem so worried?”

“Because you’ve always mocked it,” Kanaya murmured.

“Believing in God?”

“Yes. Because you associate it with hate and weakness, I suppose. You see it as an excuse, or a fable created for comfort, or even a mental illness.” When Kanaya looked up, her jaw was tense and her eyes were dark, and had a hardness to them. “You don’t understand, Rose. And I don’t think you’re going to any time soon.”

“... Perhaps,” Rose allowed. “But you know if there’s anything I love doing, it’s trying to understand the unfamiliar.”

“Right.” Kanaya pulled her arm from behind Rose and opened her book again. Rose sat back and eyed her.

“If you truly think I don’t understand, then educate me.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to be your handbook to faith in God. It’s not my responsibility.”

“So, what, we should just not talk about it?”

Kanaya glanced at her. “That’s fine with me.”

Rose stared, and then fell back to the bed. “Alright.”

Kanaya read on, and after a minute wiggled her arm back behind Rose, squeezing her shoulder. Rose cast an arm to rest over Kanaya’s midsection and resumed her place in the crook of her neck. “Sorry if I was being pushy.”

“You were fine,” Kanaya murmured. “Sorry for being a little defensive.”

“You were fine. I understand, really.” Rose looked up at her. “It’s personal.”

“Yes.” Kanaya glanced down at her and smiled, then shut her book, putting it aside. She lay on her side to face Rose. “Thanks.”

Rose gave her a private smile and a chaste, lingering kiss. Kanaya burrowed into the pillow. “Something wrong?”

“I don’t quite feel like kissing.”

“Okay.” Rose’s smile split into a grin. “Let’s play truth time.”

Rose rolled off the bed and snatched up the chair at her desk, turning it to sit on it backwards. She crossed her arms over the top and propped her head on them. “You start.”

“We do this sober now?”

“Do you want to get intoxicated?”

“No.” Kanaya looked at her hands, smoothing the wrinkles in the bedding where Rose had lay. “Do you want to start?”

“It’s up to you.”

“I’ll start.” Kanaya turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling. “Were you disappointed when I said I don’t feel like kissing you?”

“Of course. But I don’t actually mind. You need your space.”

Kanaya smiled despite herself. “You’re sweet.”

“My turn.” Rose hummed to herself and picked at the chair back. “Will you cook me delicious food for sexual favours?”

“Oh my god.” Kanaya put a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter. “Yes. Yes I will.”

“Excellent.”

“Sweet or savory?”

“Savory. Not much of a sweet person. Unless they’re soft baked biscuits.”

“Noted.”

“Your turn.”

Kanaya looked around the room. “Most influential book on your general life?”

“Wow.” Rose stared at the wall, then jerked up. “Parasites. Daphne du Maurier.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t read it.”

“It’s good. A little melancholy, like most of her work is, but funny, which is a change from such an author. I had heard she was an amusing woman herself, but it rarely showed in her books.”

“Thrilling and layered psychologically engaging narrative?”

“You have no idea.”

“This is you we’re talking about. I think I have an idea.”

Rose smirked. “My turn.”

“Okay.”

“First crush? Doesn’t need to be a real person.”

Kanaya laughed. “Um, Jane Lane. From Daria.”

“Good taste. Really good taste.”

“She is amazing.” Kanaya shook her head. “Okay. Hm. What physical feature do you find most attractive?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Come on,” Kanaya said, arching a brow. “Don’t be difficult. What, as they say, gets you going?”

“Eyes and hips.” Rose made a considering face. “And some tuggable hair.”

“I see.”

“What gets you going?”

“Does it have to be physical?”

“Not necessarily.”

“I like assertiveness.” Kanaya met her eye and held it. “Why do you think we’re friends?”

Rose pursed her lips and hummed. “Like being dominated, huh?”

Kanaya scoffed and turned her face away. Rose could see her blushing, and the way she was pressing her thighs together. “Maybe.” She peered back at Rose. “Your character crush?”

Kanaya’s hand was sliding down her leg, slowly dragging her skirt further against her hips. “Ursula, from the Little Mermaid,” she answered belatedly.  
“That is quite an interesting answer. Mind elaborating?”

“I liked her power and sass. The tentacles didn’t hurt, either.”

“I bet.” Kanaya tugged her skirt back up toward her knees; Rose looked away as she did.

“Your most embarrassing moment?”

Kanaya hummed. “Serious, or funny?”

“Both.”

“I once misspelled the word ‘you’. I was horribly sleep deprived, but its no excuse. It was in an essay.”

“I am deeply ashamed of you.”

“I know. I wear it like a great crack right in the wick of me; right in the heart, Rose.”

“You are not forgiven. There is no mercy for such grievances.” Kanaya was grinning. “Serious?”

Kanaya glanced at her. “When I was twelve, I had a birthday party. I insisted on organizing everything. It was pretty awful. I went a little too far with it; too controlling. I’m a perfectionist, as you know. We were playing hide and seek. They insisted I start in my brother’s closet and go from there, but, uh. Locked me in there, then left.”

“Your friends when you were twelve were kind of assholes.”

“They were young and stupid,” Kanaya said, waving her hand. “The real embarrassment was when I had to explain it to Porrim. I felt so pathetic.”

Rose grimaced as Kanaya flushed and pressed her hands to her face. “I’m sorry, Kanaya.”

“It’s okay. It was really just embarrassing.”

“What awful kids.”

“They’re not so bad now,” Kanaya muttered. Rose quirked a brow.

“Any of them go here?”

“Uh. Two of them.”

“Who.”

“Rose.”

“I’m not going to -- they were twelve. I get it. Bygones be bygones.”

“Vriska and Terezi.”

“That is not at all surprising.”

Kanaya gave her a strained smile. “How about you?”

“I once messed up a violin performance in front of over eight hundred people. I missed a few beats, then froze up and stopped all together, and ran off the stage because I was so embarrassed.”

“You poor thing,” Kanaya murmured, smiling like Rose was a child that had scraped her knee. Rose rolled her eyes.

“Feel free to laugh, I find it very amusing in retrospect.”

“It’s more adorable than amusing, I think.”

“Very well.” Rose sighed. “Okay. My turn.”

“Your turn.”

“Who is the first person you kissed?”

“Ugh. Really? So stereotypical.”

“Okay. So what’s your answer?” Kanaya didn’t reply. “Oh, come on. The more you resist, the more suspicious the eventual answer seems. Remember? The name of the game is truth. Truth time. First kiss?”

Kanaya bit her lip. “Porrim,” she sighed. “Porrim was my first kiss.”

“Whoa.” Rose laughed nervously. “How did that happen?”

“We were practicing.” She indicated the quotation marks around “practicing” with her hands and a  dry look. “She initiated it, but I was pretty eager. You’ve seen my sister.”

“Yeah.”

It was awkward and silent for a long moment. Kanaya cleared her throat. “What about you? First kiss?”

Rose was picking at the chair again, and continued to do so as she answered, staring at her hands. “Roxy. I kissed her while she was sleeping, and she woke up, and – well, she didn’t push me off. It felt. Weird.”

Kanaya stared at her, and sighed. “Yeah. Weird.” She let her head fall back into the pillow.

“Not just weird, though.”

“Yeah.” Kanaya frowned. “I enjoyed it, because my sister has always been so beautiful and attractive. Everyone noticed. Karkat and Kankri noticed, and they’re cousins. So why wouldn’t I?” She laughed a little, but it was hollow and mirthless and she stopped. “I love Porrim, but I’m not sure what to think. What I should think.”

“Well... what do you honestly think?”

“Hm. I think that me and Porrim are two people. But I was young, and it was not okay? Because of that. Because I was impressionable, and Porrim wasn’t just Porrim.” Kanaya lolled her head to look at Rose. “She was above me. It feels like she used that, even if she didn’t realise it.”

“Oh.” Rose glanced down at her hands, and up to Kanaya, and had no idea how to say what she thought or felt. “I’m... sorry.”

Kanaya rolled her eyes. “I’m not some sad story, Rose. It’s not even a big deal. It’s just a strange thing that happened.”

“Yeah?” Rose smiled best she could, and Kanaya smiled back with a great deal of affection.“Roxy was above me too, but. She never used it. I put her there. I used it.” Rose dropped her head into her folded arms, hiding. “Stupid. Stupid thing I did.”

Rose could feel Kanaya starting at her. “Do you... like Roxy? Did you?”

“No. I don’t know. If I did, I don’t now.” Rose turned her head into her arm. “I just. I was curious. It was like catching a bug in a jar and not caring when it died, like a kid. I just wanted to know the feeling, this thing that people had talked about, and that I had read about. And Roxy is so beautiful.”

“She really is.”

“So is Porrim.”

“Yeah.” There was a stretch of silence. “I don’t care, Rose. That you kissed your sister because you were curious. It’s okay.”

Rose lazily propped her head on her crossed arms. “I wish I was your first kiss.”

“So do I,” Kanaya murmured, smiling sweetly.

Rose slipped off the chair and sat beside Kanaya, and rest her hand palm up on her thigh, and Kanaya took it.

“Do you feel like kissing?”

“I feel like kissing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like the drawings in this one aaaa so this is what pride feels like


	4. In The Absence Of Any Particular Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vriska and Terezi and a day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No drawings this time children. Sorry!

You wake to the harsh light of morning sun, the white defaced walls of your dorm, a gentle pressure on your chest and your hands shaking. You squint and make out the smudged, chalky mess of vivid Crayola-brand colours that cover the entirety of your roommate’s wall. You move to stretch, and her nose presses into the back of your neck; you fully compute that the pressure on your chest is her hands, and the shaking is because of something you don’t have time for right now. You suspect this thing is a direct consequence of her open mouth slobbering disgustingly all over your shoulders. You nudge her back. “Ugh. I just woke up.”

“You taste awesome in the mornings.”

“Good to know. Now get the fuck off me. We have school.”

“We should just not go.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” She presses her hips against your ass. You force up an annoyed groan.

“I have an assessment task tomorrow.”

“So study here.”

You turn around to face her. She grins at you and kisses the corner of your mouth, then your lips. “You greedy fuck,” you murmur against her lips.

“Stop being a bitch for three seconds and we can actually take this somewhere.” She presses your shoulders back against your cramped bed and follows you, straddling your hips. She sits back and rests her hands on your sternum. You look up into her sightless eyes and mischievous smile, and allow yourself a smirk because you know she can’t see. Your hands slide up her thighs.

“What did you have in mind?”

“So many things.” She casually grinds down against you, and you have to grab her ass to steady yourself. You need to give your hands something to do. They won’t tremble as bad.

“All the things?”

“All the things.” She emphasises her words just for you, and you kiss her for it, and then bite her because you’re still you. She bites you back, on the meat of your cheek. “Ow!”

“Ow yourself,” She sneers, attacking your neck. You limit the access she has to your throat as much as possible, and she huffs, then grabs your hair and tugs hard enough to make you gasp. She roughly creates a hickey that is much larger than necessary, just to get back at you. You appreciate that she is hardly mean for no reason; it’s punishment. Justice. You arch and indulge her as she scrapes her teeth against your throat and cervical.

You run your hands up her bare back - you should have seen this coming, with both of you sleeping in nothing but your underwear - and begin to shift your weight. She knows your intentions immediately, and nips you on the swell of your breast as a warning. You pout and wait. You moan and sigh on cue, and move your leg between hers. She falters, hips pressing hard against your thigh. It’s time. You move, and switch your places fast, flattening her to the bed with your weight; you grasp her wrists before she can get her eight uncut nails into your back and press them into the bed. You grin against her cheek, and feel her scowling.

“Got you in my web.”

“Fuck you.”

“Looking forward to controlling the situation for once, eh?” You kiss her cheek, then nibble on her ear. “Sorry babe. You know me.”

“You’re such a fucking asshole.”

“Keep talking.”

“Go choke on a dick.”

“Sorry, not really my tastes.” You press your hips hard against hers, and she rolls beneath you, stifling a noise you are eager to coax out of her. “As you know.”

“The one matter we sadly don’t meet on.”

You bite her ear. “Shut up.”

“No.”

You’re distracted enough that you forget how weirdly strong she is. She pushes you right off her, and you hit the ground abruptly. She falls on top of you, and her knee on your chest doesn’t help with how winded you are. She leans down on you heavily . Its pay back, you know. She watches you struggle, and then she sits on your waist. “It’s a pity, you know.”

“What?”

“That you don’t have a dick.”

You cough and then smile up at her. “I don’t need a penis to satisfy you.”

“Really?” She’s sliding her hips against your stomach, and you are quite sure - yes. She is wet.

“Um? Yes? That’s why I’m your steady,” You say as if it is the most obvious thing ever. Because it is.

Terezi tilts her head. “Easily replaceable,” she mutters.

You feel your smile dropping. Your hands, pinned under her legs, jerk out from beneath them and grip her waist in a way that must be painful from how she winces. She grasps your wrists as you wrench her to the ground and once again climb on top of her. She pushes at your shoulders, and you feel that tension; the energy built up in your limbs that you feel compelled to exert. You press her against the ground too forcefully. She’s baring her teeth at you.

“I’m easily replaceable?”

“Of course!”

 

You scowl, and then waver. “Am I?”

She hears the genuine insecurity in your voice and groans exasperatedly. "Seriously, V?"

"What?"

"You're so fucking lame." She leans back and kisses your nose, then your cheek, and then suddenly pushes you off of her. You watch as she walks over to your side’s wardrobe. She pulls your favourite band shirt over her head - The Strokes - backwards.

“Uh, ok? Are we just stopping there?” You ask.

“Punishment,” she replies. She feels the collar of her shirt, then pulls her arms back in through the sleeves and turns it around the right way. She pats around your underwear drawer and pulls out Buzz Lightyear boxers, and steps into them. “I’m going to the bathroom. You have five minutes to finish, then we’re leaving.”

“To go where?”

“Out.”

“To school?”

“No. Just out.”

“Wow. Be more pointlessly mysterious, please.”

“Picture Dave fucking me doggy style!” She slaps her ass and slams the door behind her. You scowl at her and the annoying as shit image she conjured in your head.

You throw yourself onto your bed and bury your face in your pillow and imagine screwing her into your bed, against a wall, on a table - without a dick. The nerve of her. In your mind, that nerve is gone, forgotten on account of your hands and lips and your strange need to dominate. It takes you four of the five minutes. You pull on jeans and a Spiderbait sweatshirt that’s torn and too big for you. You don your shitty, amazing glasses.

She comes back dressed perfectly. Too perfectly to be her own doing. You suspect Fussy Face, senior and or junior, is in on this. “Nice threads.”

“Thanks. Sis and fuckmum ambushed me.” She grins. “I think they burned your shorts. Something about an insult to Disney?”

“Shit. I liked those. My mum bought them when I was twelve.”

“Really?”

“Nah. I found them in a barn.”

“I am not even going to ask.”

“Porrim kind of has some nerve just wrecking people’s shit! I really did like those shorts.”

“She makes up for it by being super hot and an amazing person. And putting up with us calling her fuckmum. Also, there were stains on those boxers.” Terezi throws The Strokes shirt toward your bed, and gets it on the lamp instead. “Anyway, I never got to rub it out, so if you don’t mind!” She leaps onto her bed and buries herself under the covers.

“Should I wait outside?”

“Up to you!” Her hand re-emerges from the bedding and opens her bedside table’s second drawer, knocking several objects about. You see the short blue vibrator she bought in your honour in your peripheral vision as you exit the room. You decide to go bother Sis and Fuckmum, seeing as they indirectly lead to your expulsion from your room in the first place.

You kick door number eleven three times. “Maryam senior!”

“Yes, fuckchild number two?” She opens the door dressed in the cutest skirt and dress shirt combination you have ever seen. She is tall and her makeup is smoky and perfect, and you are incredibly intimidated by her. You pray to every non-existent God that Kanaya is never as hot as Porrim is; it is difficult to truly undermine anyone this relentlessly sexy and badass.

“Hey.” You sound like a shithead already.

“Is there a reason you called in?”

“So you dressed Terezi.”

Porrim smiles and glances back into the room. “Honey, she mistook your handiwork for mine! I’m so proud.”

“Latula dressed her?”

“All on her own.”

“All on my own,” Latula chimes in, coming to Porrim’s side. She kisses her cheek, and then grins at you. It is achingly similar to Terezi’s. “Like my sweet ass choices?”

“Um. Yeah.”

Latula leans out the door, peering down the hall. “Where is she anyway?”

“In the room.”

Porrim grins. “Got kicked out?”

“No.” You sound as defensive as you feel.

“She’s totally jerking off right now.” Porrim looks at Latula victoriously. “I told you babe. It’s in the walk.”

“How can you even tell? You’re always right.”

“It’s like a sixth sense. A sexth sense.”

“Keep your sexth sense away from my little sister.”

“Very well.”

“Okay, this got weird. I’m gonna go now.” You back away from the door.

“Is there any particular reason you knocked?”

“Nah. Just bored.” You grin at them, and they make a valiant effort of looking amused.

“Closing the door now.”

“Give good blow jobs!” You call.

“Go to school!”

You don’t go to school.

Terezi drags you to a supermarket just off campus. “Breakfast?”

“Yes. And supplies for the party.”

“Party?”

“There’s a thing happening at the beta boys’ house. We were told to bring drinks.”

“We don’t have a license.”

“Not alcohol, asshole.” Terezi drags you into the junk food section. “Fizzy drink.”

“We gettin’ some fucking pop. Oh yes. Hell yes. Hell fucking yes.”

“Your love of carbonated sugar-water is worrying, Vriska.” She grabs Bundaberg ginger beer and lemon, lime and bitters, and you love her. She picks up Faygo. Your smile drops.

“Whoa, what. That shit is fucking disgusting.”

“Gamzee will be there.”

“And? He has like, a year worth supply of his own.”

Terezi doesn’t reply, and continues on to six packs of glass bottles. You walk after her.

“No. Please don’t tell me you’re still into that guy.”

“Can we just get the drinks?”

“He’s a psycho stoner dead-head.”

“A psycho stoner dead-head with a glorious dick.” She presses a four pack against your chest. “I’m going for Dave, not Gamzee. You’re right. He’s an asshat. I know.”

“Dave.” You roll your eyes. “That guy is just as much of a jerk. I don’t understand how he’s related to Rose. Like, how can two people who are related be so damn different?”

“If you start going on about how great Rose is again.”

“She’s just so glorious.”

Terezi tilts her head, grimacing, and you like how it annoys her. Why else would you talk about your ‘bestie’ so much?

“You realise there isn’t one guy I consort with that you don’t mind, right?” Terezi turns to you, her equivalent of a pointed look.

“Karkat is okay.”

“Karkat is also the only one that refuses to act on shit because he’s all weird and strict monogamy.” She pulls something from an opposite shelf.

“He still counts. You made out.”

“Right.”

Terezi turns on her heel and walks into you. She stares at you sightlessly, and grins. “No homo, bro,” She says gruffly. You shove her away playfully.

“It’s okay. The tips didn’t touch.”

“Did the balls touch?”

“The balls did touch.”

“Gay."

“Homo.”

“So homo.”

“Let’s just go to the party.”

You wrestle your jean pockets for loose change as Terezi is pulling notes out of her bright red wallet. You see how she runs her thumbs across the textured corners and hands the pubescent cashier a twenty.

“So are we just going straight there?”

“No. It’s eight AM. I got us some breakfast.” She holds up two bags of crisps and the four pack of creaming soda. “Let’s go watch the assembly.”

Watching the assembly means two things: at the right time on the right day, it literally means watching the school assembly that happens on a Monday morning. In most cases however, watching the assembly means going to the best spot in the school’s huge, rich as fuck campus; the massive marble and brass A.H. Memorial.

You climb over the fence at the back of the building as easily as you ever do, and race each other up the stairs leading to the roof. The plateau of the place is covered with gravel and iron fencing, and has little more than a single sunroof window. You peer down it, well aware of what is below, because this is The Place where you and your loose band of misfits hangout basically all of the time when you are out of school or the dorms.

You sit right on the edge of the roof. Terezi is opening her bag of chips while you, with your sight, actually do watch the assembly. You take the bottle she is holding out to you and search the lines of girls for the usual close friends.

They are standing very neatly, for a Monday morning. You identify the eleventh year level, and search down the 11-B line to about L in roll order. You find Rose’s short blonde hair, and then she peers up, and you think she might be smiling. You wave. She doesn’t wave back, but reaches her hand forward and taps someone’s shoulder; Kanaya’s. She is looking at Rose, and then they both glance up, and Kanaya waves. You don’t return it.

“Who spotted us?”

“Rose and her make-out supply.”

“You could just use her name.”

You don’t reply, and take a swig of your drink. “This shit rots your teeth if you drink it too early.”

“Then don’t drink it, if you care.”

“I don’t,” You mutter. You see Rose leaning forward to murmur something to Kanaya. “Do you think they’re going out?”

“Probably.”

You look elsewhere in the assembly. You see Peixes, her usual gold adornments sparkling in the morning sun. “Status report: Fef still looks about as rich as the people that own this place.”

“Her family is old money.”

“I know. That shit is so great to be friends with.”

“Better when she’s drunk.” Terezi grins rakishly. “That much money in the hands of someone as uninhibited as intoxicated Feferi is something to be feared and revered.”

You lean back on your arm and shove a handful of chips in your mouth. “She’s not as much of a tight ass as fucking Eridan.”

“You know that flagpole that mysteriously went missing two years ago?”

“Yeah?”

Terezi leans towards you, still grinning. “I am pretty sure it got absorbed into the black abyss that is Eridan Ampora’s butt.”

You both cackle too loudly, and you see Rose give you a look. You press a hand to Terezi’s mouth, shushing her.

You both manage to stay silent for the rest of the assembly. Every now and then Rose or Kanaya would glance up, and you would wave at both of them; Terezi would feel it in the air and join you belatedly.

You could see a few of the students going to fetch horns and drums, and knew they would start marching soon. You glance once more at Rose. She looks at you pointedly, and makes a gesture with her hands that you understand as ‘Lets meet up.’ She continues as the teachers announce the march. ‘Lunch period, rec room.’ You give her a thumbs up. “We’re hopping out of the party at about 12: 35.”

“Why?”

“Rose wants to see us in the rec room during lunch.”

“She should come with us to the party.”

“So she can bicker with her twinsie all night? Ugh.”

“Are you referring to Dave or Kanaya?”

“Dave.” You frown. “Her and Kanaya bicker?”

“I wouldn’t think so. They’re actually a perfect match. They’re kind of alike, but not alike at all. Good balance.”

“Right.”

“Why does that make you so uncomfortable?”

You look at Terezi, searching her profile for some kind of motive. “What does?”

“Talk of Kanaya and Rose.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Or really, Kanaya in general.”

“It doesn’t,” You repeat, and she scoffs.

“Yeah, and the sky isn’t bronze.”

“It isn’t.”

“It was in ancient Greece. And how the fuck would I know?” She grins at you as wide as ever.

“You went blind at 12.”

“Yep. And I never went back.”

You scowl. “What do you mean it was in ancient Greece?”

“The word for the colour blue was bronze.”

“Oh.”

The drums start up. They march in single file lines, class by class by year level, homeroom teachers at their head. “Why does the school still do this? No other school still does this.”

“It was a thing in the sixties.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“We go to a really traditionalist school.”

“And yet we have Jade Harley in our ranks.”

“But it’s Jade.” Terezi slaps your arm. “If you were a principle, could you deny Jade placement at your school? She’s a boss.”

“A boss with a dick.”

“Come on, Vris.”

“What?”

“It’s not really our right to discuss that.”

You think to complain, then grimace. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Terezi stands up. “Let’s go. What time is it?”

You tug your phone from your pocket and unlock it with a swipe of your thumb. “Nine thirty-four.”

“Great. We’ll be just in time, then.” She starts toward the stairs. “Come on!” You shake your head as you follow.

The beta boy’s dorm is identical in design to your beta girl’s dorm, though it’s on the opposite side of the massive shared campus. You take the stairs up to the second level two-by-two, because Terezi is overly energetic and makes you hold hands no matter how much you complain. You walk into the common room and find it occupied by the male counterpart to your usual group. You’re both your respective school’s outcasts. You’re lucky that most of your respective school’s students kind of enjoy outcast types.

“Dave!” Terezi cries and takes a great leap in his direction. He takes a dive to his left in order to catch her.

“TZ. Sup.” You see his dumb face, identical to Rose’s, flushing and trying so hard to keep from smiling. He fails. He clears his throat. “Got the goods?”

“Yep,” You say, holding up your loot from earlier. He nods at you in greeting and takes the bags.

“Could you help me put these away?”

You eye him suspiciously. He arches an eyebrow, and it’s so familiar, and so like Rose, that you cave. “Yeah, sure.”

You follow him into the small kitchen and he hands you a bag back. “There’s a couple of eskies over there.” He opens the main fridge and shifts bottles and packs around. You sift through cans and bottles and ice, and tip the contents of your bag with no real effort. You snatch a can of passion fruit soda and stand up to go back out, but he blocks the door. You narrow your eyes at him.

“What do you want?”

“We both know I didn’t need your help putting that away, dude.” He tips his head. “I just wanted to talk.”

“About what?”

“You and TZ. Look, I’m not sure what you think I know about you two and how you go about shit, but I’m aware that you two are a thing. An Important thing.” He looks at you over his glasses. “Perhaps more important than me and TZ. I have to ask her, but that’s what I suspect.”

His recognition of this fact calms you down, and that annoys you. You rub at the bridge of your nose. “Okay? So what is it you want to talk about?”

“I just wanted to let you know that I respect you guys are dating, fucking with feelings or whatever. You go way back. Me and TZ only really got to know each other this year. So… I’m not trying to steal her, okay? And we don’t have to be so weird with each other.”

“You want to be friends?” You sound incredulous. He lets out a short, exasperated laugh.

“I just want to be able to chill when we’re in the same room.”

You look at him for a long moment, and he pushes his glasses up on his head, staring you back in the eye. His are a different shade. More red than Rose’s borderline lavender. “Alright.” You smile and slap his shoulder hard. He flinches a bit, but smirks back. “I can roll with that, Strider.”

“Thanks.”

“Nah. We probably should have talked about this earlier. It really was kind of uncomfortable. I just assumed...”

“That I was going to be a total dudebro dickhead about it?” You shrug your shoulders. He smiles. “I know. It’s cool.”

You glance over his shoulder. He turns on his heel. “Would you rather I kept the public displays of affection toned down while you’re around?”

“Terezi is going to force it on you anyway, the shameless bitch.” You scratch the back of your head. “But uh, maybe when you can. That would be cool.”

“Noted.”  He nods at you again, and heads back into the room, sitting beside Terezi on a couch occupied by Karkat and Sollux. You collapse on a beanbag in front of them, folding your hands behind your head and your legs at the ankle. Karkat is focused on Terezi. Sollux gives you a small wave of greeting that you return with a nod.

“It’s a fucking Gamecube game.”

“Karkat. You got me into it. You know how fun Wind Waker is.”

“Yeah. For a Gamecube game.” Terezi rolled her eyes. “What part are you up to?”

“The wind temple.”

“That’s not even that hard.”

“I know it’s not. I just needed to stop playing because I had been going for like, eight hours.”

“That’s nothing,” Sollux muttered. “I played Skyrim for sixteen hours straight when it first came out.”  
  
“Yeah, when we had fucking school the next day you dumbass. A sac, in fact! We had a fucking math sac, and you still played that shitty game until three in the morning without even making notes.”

“Skyrim is not shitty.”  
  
“It’s really not,” you agree. Karkat groans.

“I don’t give a fuck about Skyrim. Those stupid high definition dragons can blow me and my huge, apathetic dick.”

“Best Zelda game?” Dave shoots, and Karkat sends him a dirty look.

“Ocarina of Time,” You say immediately.

“Me and Asshole Incarnate agree for once.” You scowl at Karkat.

“Majora’s Mask, though,” Sollux says. You frown.

“Shit. MM is really damn good.”

“OoT is kind of classic though.”

“If we’re going by classics, the first game was just The Legend of Zelda, in the 80’s or something,” Sollux murmurs.

“Dude, what. That’s true old school.”

“It was on the FDS.”

“No idea what that is,” Dave mutters.

“Whatever, Ocarina of Time was the well-known one that we all grew up with, so it wins just by default.” Karkat scowls. “The one we all grew up with, except a certain someone.” He nudges Terezi.

“You never played Ocarina of Time?” You ask, and Dave and Sollux look just as shocked. She rolls her eyes.

“You realise I can’t even see games? I prefer audio-books and music and media that isn’t almost seventy percent visual information.”

“Well, that’s understandable.” Sollux leans forward on his arms. “How is Wind Waker going, then?”

“Zelda games are good in that they have a lot of auditory cues built into the combat and gameplay, and the control vibration. If there’s text, Vriska reads it out for me.”

“Am I not a lovely narrator?” You ask, smirking.

“The best. She gets really into it.” Terezi grins, and you begin to feel slightly apprehensive. “She gets theatrical with it. Different accents, gasps and tone inflection. I’ve even felt some movement that suggests she was working a bit of gesture in.”

“Lies. I play up the voice because it’s funny.” You feel your cheeks getting hot.

“Sure you do, you butt.” She kicks her feet in your direction, and you grab one by the ankle. She attempts to tug it from your grip. “Vrisk, come on.”

“Nope. You lost it.”

“You’re such a dick,” She says, jerking her leg out of your grip. You slap her retreating leg.

“So, where’s shit-for-brains?”

“Probably doping up,” Dave mutters. You like the loathing in his voice. You feel that.

“Dave.”

“What? He’s a psycho stoner deadhead.”

You look at Terezi with raised eyebrows. She scowls off to the distance. “I agree. Deadhead.”

“Who is all dead up in their box?”

Gamzee is standing in the door to the room, his head bent to avoid the beam above. He is smiling and his eyes are drooping and pink at the whites. “Obama,” You respond. He whistles.

“He seems like a pretty chill motherfucker.”

“Way chill. Almost as ‘chill’ as you,” Dave remarks. Gamzee laughs deep and slow, like everything he does.

“Yeah brother. Yeah.”

“Yeah.” You sip your can and it’s not moody, because you are genuinely indifferent to the shithead that is Gamzee. Unless he’s messing with Terezi.

“Aye, my most classic sister. Ain’t seen your shit around this place for a while of time.” He manages to wedge himself between Karkat and Terezi, and brings his arms around both their shoulders. “Hey there lil’ bro,” he murmurs to Karkat, kissing his cheek. Karkat blushes. Terezi’s nose wrinkles.

“You smell like weed and Chocolate Lynx.”

Gamzee laughs too hard for the lack of funny subject. “Lynx Chocolate. Shit. That stuff is all, fuckin’ food scented. What is even up with that motherfucker?”

“Who the fuck knows! If it’s so damn mysterious in its origins, why don’t you stop wearing that bullshit?? It smells like the fucking sticky discharge lining the inner rim of Satan’s ass. You smell like Satan’s ass. Do you like smelling like that Gamzee?”

“Oh shit, no way man.” He frowns. “But like... its basics in the ways of ideas ‘n’ shit is a yummy thing brah. Fucking chocolate. No brother dislikes the chocolate. Certainly no sister. Shit is tight.”

“The shit is not tight, Gamzee.”

“Ssssh bro,” Gamzee says quietly, pressing his hand over Karkat’s mouth. “Ain’t no fucking thing.”

“Whaff??” Karkat barked against his hand.

“Bro. You’re slobbering all up on my hand.”

“Then move your hand,” You say in a sarcastically pleasant manner. He looks alarmed and lets go of Karkat.

“Get off the fucking couch.”

“What up, bro?” Gamzee pouts as Karkat pushes at is back.

“Get up! We’re going to take a fucking shower. Your stoner clown ass is embarrassing as fuck.”

“No bro. I just blazed up. Lookin’ to chill for now.” Gamzee frowns down at him.

“Gamzee. Please. We just wanted to have a normal hang out. You being dead as fuck is just distracting and kind of bullshit.” Karkat grabs his arm. Gamzee snatches it away.

“I’m always blazed. It’s normal.”

“It’s not normal to be fucking high all the time!” You see Karkat’s face turning red. You think his hands might be shaking.

“Its normal for me.” Gamzee pushes Karkat’s hands from his shoulders and body and steps back. “Chill, bro.”

“Don’t you tell me to chill! Don’t you fucking dare.” He takes his wrist and drags him into the nearest room and slams the door. You glance at Dave and Sollux, who look just as confused and surprised as you, and Terezi, who is grimacing in what you guess is concern. You hear muffled shouting.

“Are they going out?”

“I don’t think so,” Terezi says. Dave hums.

“From what we’ve heard from their dorm...” Dave glances at Sollux.

“There is an awful lot of squeaking springs on some nights and the occasional morning, not going to lie. Frankly, I don’t want to think about a guy of Gamzee’s size laying into Karkat. Shit would be brutal.” Terezi has her head tilted down. You narrow your eyes and rub at your lips.

“Can’t see Karkat getting in a relationship with that. They might be fucking,” You propose.

“Not Karkat’s style,” Terezi says quietly.

“Him refusing to be part of our open relationship and him having casual sex are different things, T. You know that.” Terezi frowns at your words.

“Whatever.”

You fall silent. Terezi rarely sounds so genuinely bothered. Dave is quiet too, and glancing between you, Terezi and his legs. Sollux shifts uncomfortably.

“Um. Anyone want to watch a movie?”

You all jump at Sollux’s suggestion eagerly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 part story gasp


End file.
